Tank is dieing - need advice

As long as water is flowing through it, yes, it's right.

 

Which ones are raising 10ppm per day? If it's Nitrates that's fine.

 

all 3, with seemingly no ceiling

 

Most of it is. I couldnt quite get all the water to go directly through it, some still kinda wants to go over/around, but I'd say about 90% of it is.

 

Are you sure there's nothing in the tank that's dead (and you haven't found it yet)? If your amonia is going up by 10ppm per day, something is amiss. I would move what's still alive to a quarantine tank, and let the tank go until ammonia and nitrites are zero. If you're going to leave living things inside your tank, then I think you need to do water changes as nothing is going to survive for very long with that much ammonia in there.

 

Then it's working.

 

Thanks everyone. +karma to all for your advice and support

 

One more quick question: The LFS was attempting to peddle "Seachem Prime" as a way of helping to solve this problem. Any thoughts/opinions?

 

It will remove small amounts but that is just a side affect of precipitation when it removes the chlorine, that it does well and should be used as that...a declorinator.

Less things you change and add now, the easier you can learn what works. Keep the carbon going and I bet in a month Tanster will have you converted to one of the knights of activated carbon.

 

Sorry, I need to edit that. The NO3 is going up about 10ppm per day, the ammonia and NO2 are each going up about ~.5ppm per day. All three hit toxic levels in about 2-3days, as they never flatten out or go back down on there own. PH, salinity, and temp all hold at stable and safe levels. The only thing that was left dead in the tank where some problem Aiptasia that were handled with joe's juice. Everything else has been promptly removed.